On March 18, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Policy Statement on Penalty Guidelines to assess civil penalties pursuant to the Commission’s civil penalty authority that was created By the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005. The Penalty Guidelines are modeled after the factor-based United States Sentencing Guidelines and are modified to account for Commission-specific considerations and concerns. By offering a quantitative and qualitative factor-based approach, FERC seeks to promote greater fairness and proportionality in determining penalties. Penalty Guidelines will apply to violations of FERC regulations, orders, and policies along with a special application for violations of FERC-approved Reliability Standards. Read more…